The constituent documents of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were formulated in the 1990s, at a time when the internet was still relatively new to most of society. In the four years between the signing of the Rome Statute in 1998 and its entry into force in 2002, there was a surge in technological development. The replacement of dial-up connections by home broadband and wireless internet, the commercial launch of 3G, and the introduction of camera phones all took place during that period, followed only a few years later by the founding of Google, YouTube and Facebook. This trend has only continued. Advanced technologies have changed the way in which societies create information and share it, generating an ever-growing volume of data. The availability and accessibility to new sources of information open up opportunities for international criminal investigators, but the task of using them effectively is not without its challenges. Recent cases before the ICC indicate that digital evidence will play an increasingly central role in investigations and prosecutions. In national jurisdictions, digital evidence is now introduced in the majority of criminal cases, and there have been significant reforms in domestic statutes on evidentiary and procedural rules from admissibility to e-discovery. However, such reforms have not yet materialized at the ICC. This article assesses whether the Rome Statute and Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and their current interpretation, remain effective and appropriate in the face of technological change. The authors examine the emerging challenges related to the use and handling of digital evidence, as well as the unique nature of the internet and other dissemination channels. By drawing attention to the main issues with the existing rules and practices, and raising unresolved questions, the authors highlight the importance of reassessing rules based on obsolete assumptions and expectations as we move towards the future.

中文翻译：

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在噪声中寻找信号

国际刑事法院 (ICC) 的组成文件是在 1990 年代制定的，当时互联网对大多数社会来说还相对较新。从 1998 年《罗马规约》签署到 2002 年生效的四年间，技术发展突飞猛进。家庭宽带和无线互联网取代拨号连接，3G 的商用，拍照手机的推出，都发生在这一时期，仅仅几年后，谷歌、YouTube 和 Facebook 相继成立。这种趋势只会持续下去。先进技术改变了社会创造和分享信息的方式，产生了不断增长的数据量。新信息来源的可用性和可访问性为国际刑事调查人员提供了机会，但有效使用它们的任务并非没有挑战。国际刑事法院最近审理的案件表明，数字证据将在调查和起诉中发挥越来越重要的作用。在国家司法管辖区，现在大多数刑事案件都引入了数字证据，并且国内法规对证据和程序规则进行了重大改革，从可受理性到电子取证。然而，此类改革尚未在国际刑事法院实施。本文评估了《罗马规约》和《程序和证据规则》及其当前解释在面对技术变革时是否仍然有效和适当。作者研究了与数字证据的使用和处理相关的新挑战，以及互联网和其他传播渠道的独特性。通过关注现有规则和实践的主要问题，并提出未解决的问题，作者强调了在我们走向未来时基于过时的假设和期望重新评估规则的重要性。